ARIZONA MISSING LINKAGES Galiuro – Pinaleño – Dos Cabezas Linkage Design Paul Beier, Emily Garding, Daniel Majka 2008 GALIURO – PINALEÑO – DOS CABEZAS LINKAGE DESIGN Acknowledgments This project would not have been possible without the help of many individuals. We thank Dr. Phil Rosen, Matt Good, Chasa O’Brien, Dr. Jason Marshal, Ted McKinney, Michael Robinson, Mitch Sternberg, Dr. Robert Harrison, and Taylor Edwards for parameterizing models for focal species and suggesting focal species. Catherine Wightman, Fenner Yarborough, Janet Lynn, Mylea Bayless, Andi Rogers, Mikele Painter, Valerie Horncastle, Matthew Johnson, Jeff Gagnon, Erica Nowak, Lee Luedeker, Allen Haden, Shaula Hedwall, Bill Broyles, Dale Turner, Natasha Kline, Thomas Skinner, David Brown, Jeff Servoss, Janice Pryzbyl, Tim Snow, Lisa Haynes, Don Swann, Trevor Hare, and Martin Lawrence helped identify focal species and species experts. Robert Shantz provided photos for many of the species accounts. Shawn Newell, Jeff Jenness, Megan Friggens, and Matt Clark, and Elissa Ostergaard provided helpful advice on analyses and reviewed portions of the results. Funding This project was funded by a grant from Arizona Game and Fish Department to Northern Arizona University. Recommended Citation Beier, P., E. Garding, and D. Majka. 2008. Arizona Missing Linkages: Galiuro-Pinaleño-Dos Cabezas Linkage Design. Report to Arizona Game and Fish Department. School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University. Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................................ 1 LIST OF TABLES & FIGURES ................................................................................................................................ 2 TERMINOLOGY ........................................................................................................................................................ 4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ......................................................................................................................................... 5 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................................... 9 NATURE NEEDS ROOM TO MOVE ............................................................................................................................... 9 A STATEWIDE VISION ................................................................................................................................................. 9 ECOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE GALIURO-PINALEÑO-DOS CABEZAS LINKAGE ................................................ 10 THREATS TO CONNECTIVITY .................................................................................................................................... 11 LINKAGE DESIGN & RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................................................. 14 TWO LINKAGES PROVIDE CONNECTIVITY ACROSS A DIVERSE LANDSCAPE ............................................................. 14 LAND OWNERSHIP, LAND COVER, AND TOPOGRAPHIC PATTERNS WITHIN THE LINKAGE DESIGN ........................... 15 REMOVING AND MITIGATING BARRIERS TO MOVEMENT ......................................................................................... 15 IMPACTS OF ROADS ON WILDLIFE ............................................................................................................................ 20 Mitigation for Roads ............................................................................................................................................ 20 Existing Roads in the Linkage Design Area ........................................................................................................ 24 Existing Crossing Structures in the Linkage Design ........................................................................................... 25 Recommendations for Highway Crossing Structures .......................................................................................... 26 Figure 13: Existing crossing structures in the Linkage Design Additional Road Crossing Structures Needed to Avoid Isolation of Reptile and Amphibian Populations Not Served by the Two Linkages ................................... 29 Additional Road Crossing Structures Needed to Avoid Isolation of Reptile and Amphibian Populations Not Served by the Two Linkages ................................................................................................................................ 30 Mitigation for Urban Barriers ............................................................................................................................. 32 APPENDIX A: LINKAGE DESIGN METHODS .................................................................................................. 34 FOCAL SPECIES SELECTION ...................................................................................................................................... 34 HABITAT SUITABILITY MODELS ............................................................................................................................... 35 IDENTIFYING POTENTIAL BREEDING PATCHES & POTENTIAL POPULATION CORES .................................................. 36 IDENTIFYING BIOLOGICALLY BEST CORRIDORS ....................................................................................................... 37 PATCH CONFIGURATION ANALYSIS .......................................................................................................................... 38 MINIMUM LINKAGE WIDTH ...................................................................................................................................... 39 FIELD INVESTIGATIONS ............................................................................................................................................ 40 APPENDIX B: INDIVIDUAL SPECIES ANALYSES .......................................................................................... 41 BADGER (TAXIDEA TAXUS) ................................................................................................................................. 43 BLACK BEAR (URSUS AMERICANUS) ............................................................................................................... 47 BOBCAT (LYNX RUFUS) ........................................................................................................................................ 51 JAGUAR (PANTHERA ONCA) ............................................................................................................................... 55 JAVELINA (TAYASSU TAJACU) ........................................................................................................................... 59 KIT FOX (VULPES MACROTIS) ............................................................................................................................ 63 MEXICAN GRAY WOLF (CANIS LUPUS BAILEYI) .......................................................................................... 67 MOUNTAIN LION (PUMA CONCOLOR) ............................................................................................................. 71 MULE DEER (ODOCOILEUS HEMIONUS) ......................................................................................................... 75 Arizona Missing Linkages 1 Galiuro – Pinaleño – Dos Cabezas Linkage Design PRONGHORN (ANTILOCAPRA AMERICANA)................................................................................................... 79 APPENDIX C: FOCAL SPECIES NOT MODELED ............................................................................................ 83 APPENDIX D: CREATION OF LINKAGE DESIGN .......................................................................................... 85 APPENDIX E: DESCRIPTION OF LAND COVER CLASSES .......................................................................... 86 APPENDIX F: LITERATURE CITED ................................................................................................................... 89 APPENDIX G: DATABASE OF FIELD INVESTIGATIONS ............................................................................. 96 List of Tables & Figures List of Tables TABLE 1: FOCAL SPECIES SELECTED FOR GALIURO - PINALEÑOS - DOS CABEZAS LINKAGE .......................................... 6 TABLE 2: APPROXIMATE LAND COVER IN LINKAGE DESIGN. SEE TEXT FOR LAND COVER IN EACH OF THE FIVE STRANDS OF THE LINKAGE DESIGN. ..................................................................................................................................... 15 TABLE 3. CHARACTERISTICS WHICH MAKE SPECIES VULNERABLE TO THE THREE MAJOR DIRECT EFFECTS OF ROADS (FROM FORMAN ET AL. 2003). .............................................................................................................................. 20 TABLE 4: ROADS IN THE LINKAGE DESIGN ................................................................................................................... 25 TABLE 5: HABITAT SUITABILITY SCORES AND FACTOR WEIGHTS FOR EACH SPECIES. SCORES RANGE FROM 1 (BEST) TO 10 (WORST), WITH 1-3 INDICATING OPTIMAL HABITAT, 4-5 SUBOPTIMAL BUT USABLE HABITAT, 6-7 OCCASIONALLY USED BUT NOT BREEDING HABITAT, AND 8-10 AVOIDED ............................................................. 41 List of Figures FIGURE 1: THE GALIURO-PINALEÑO LINKAGE DESIGN CONTAINS